As pickleball continues to surge in popularity across the United States, a group of students in Utah hope to modify the format of collegiate competition. The current schedule excludes players who don’t want to choose between their religious values and playing for and/or supporting their team.
They are asking for Sunday to be a day of rest.
BYU is most prominently attached to this college pickleball scheduling conflict but the problem extends far beyond the primary academic institution for members of the Mormon faith. A new petition calling for change has been signed by athletes, coaches and fans of the sport from all over the world.
College pickleball is played on the weekends.
College pickleball clubs are a rapidly growing part of campus sports in the United States. More than 127 schools currently participate in leagues and tournaments organized by groups like the National Collegiate Pickleball Association and DUPR.
Some schools, like Drury University, integrated their pickleball clubs into the athletic department as an official varsity sport. Utah Tech University offers scholarships for pickleball.
Because most students have in-person classes on Fridays, tournaments currently take place on Saturdays and Sundays. Group play typically happens on Saturday. Elimination brackets on Sunday.
NCPA will hold regional tournaments in Indiana, Utah, California, Virginia, Texas and Florida during the 2025-26 academic calendar. Its national championship is scheduled for February 27 in Missouri. DUPR will hold tournaments in Utah, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Connecticut, Arizona, Virginia, Indiana, Georgia and California. Its national championship is scheduled for April at a location to be determined.
All of this goes to say that there are a lot of opportunities to compete in collegiate pickleball.
BYU and other religious schools cannot play on Sunday.
Approximately 60-70% of the total population in the state of Utah identifies as Mormon. There are more than two million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah.
A large portion of the population attends local universities like BYU, Utah Valley, Utah State and Utah.
Sundays are sacred within the Mormon church. Although that is true for most Christian faiths, it is especially true for members of LDS community. It is a true day of rest dedicated to family and religion.
Members are encouraged to spend time reading scriptures, praying, and engaging in spiritually uplifting activities, such as service to others, family history work, or visiting those who are sick or lonely. They are counseled to avoid shopping, working, exercising, and other activities that are “worldly” in nature.
As a result, Brigham Young University does not compete in athletics on Sunday. Ever. Other schools like Utah State and Utah Valley try to avoid Sunday competition but they are not directly aligned with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints so they have a little bit more leeway.
The Cougars do not have any. If their basketball team makes March Madness, it is scheduled for Thursdays and Saturdays. They do not practice, play or travel on Sundays. Period.
You get the idea. Sundays are sacred.
A new petition calls for change to pickleball schedules.
Much like in basketball, college pickleball players at BYU cannot compete on Sundays. That is also true for other students who are strict to their faith. Especially at the aforementioned schools.
With that in mind, a new petition calls upon DUPR, NCPA, the PPA Tour, Major League Pickleball, and the Adidas Collegiate Pickleball Tour to move collegiate pickleball events from a Saturday-Sunday format to a Friday-Saturday format.
“Collegiate pickleball is growing rapidly, with teams training hard and traveling long distances to compete — only to face an avoidable dilemma: Sunday matches force some teams or players to withdraw, regardless of how far they’ve advanced. This isn’t just one school’s problem. Players across the country come from faith traditions, family situations, or personal convictions that make Sunday play impossible or uncomfortable. When a team has to forfeit, the tournament loses some of its best matchups, competitive integrity is compromised, and athletes are left with the disappointment of being unable to finish what they started.”
The petition calls for change based on fairness and competitive integrity, inclusivity and growth of the sport, player wellness and logistics, and an established precedent of Friday-Saturday events in other sports. Signers of the petition urge collegiate pickleball organizers to adopt a new schedule for tournaments or to offer formats that allow all rounds of competition — including finals — to be completed by Saturday evening whenever possible.